diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 9b47ed8594..1488c84e1d 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 
 ARG GO_VERSION=1.24.9
 ARG XX_VERSION=1.6.1
-ARG GOLANGCI_LINT_VERSION=v2.0.2
+ARG GOLANGCI_LINT_VERSION=v2.6.2
 ARG ADDLICENSE_VERSION=v1.0.0
 
 ARG BUILD_TAGS="e2e"
diff --git a/cmd/compose/compose.go b/cmd/compose/compose.go
index fef0ed45f6..6f6502e9d6 100644
--- a/cmd/compose/compose.go
+++ b/cmd/compose/compose.go
@@ -393,8 +393,8 @@ func (o *ProjectOptions) toProjectOptions(po ...cli.ProjectOptionsFn) (*cli.Proj
 		// if none was selected, get default compose.yaml file from current dir or parent folder
 		cli.WithDefaultConfigPath,
 		// .. and then, a project directory != PWD maybe has been set so let's load .env file
-		cli.WithEnvFiles(o.EnvFiles...),
-		cli.WithDotEnv,
+		cli.WithEnvFiles(o.EnvFiles...), //nolint:gocritic // intentionally applying cli.WithEnvFiles twice.
+		cli.WithDotEnv,                  //nolint:gocritic // intentionally applying cli.WithDotEnv twice.
 		// eventually COMPOSE_PROFILES should have been set
 		cli.WithDefaultProfiles(o.Profiles...),
 		cli.WithName(o.ProjectName),
diff --git a/cmd/formatter/consts.go b/cmd/formatter/consts.go
index c60338ad9b..0ae447c432 100644
--- a/cmd/formatter/consts.go
+++ b/cmd/formatter/consts.go
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ const (
 	// TemplateLegacyJSON the legacy json formatting value using go template
 	TemplateLegacyJSON = "{{json.}}"
 	// PRETTY is the constant for default formats on list commands
+	//
 	// Deprecated: use TABLE
 	PRETTY = "pretty"
 	// TABLE Print output in table format with column headers (default)
diff --git a/cmd/formatter/formatter_test.go b/cmd/formatter/formatter_test.go
index 9da0dc85c6..07b152559c 100644
--- a/cmd/formatter/formatter_test.go
+++ b/cmd/formatter/formatter_test.go
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ func TestPrint(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	b := &bytes.Buffer{}
-	assert.NilError(t, Print(testList, PRETTY, b, func(w io.Writer) {
+	assert.NilError(t, Print(testList, TABLE, b, func(w io.Writer) {
 		for _, t := range testList {
 			_, _ = fmt.Fprintf(w, "%s\t%s\n", t.Name, t.Status)
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/compose/loader.go b/pkg/compose/loader.go
index 41d414089b..6e203012cd 100644
--- a/pkg/compose/loader.go
+++ b/pkg/compose/loader.go
@@ -95,12 +95,18 @@ func (s *composeService) buildProjectOptions(options api.ProjectLoadOptions, rem
 	}
 
 	opts = append(opts,
+		// Load PWD/.env if present and no explicit --env-file has been set
 		cli.WithEnvFiles(options.EnvFiles...),
+		// read dot env file to populate project environment
 		cli.WithDotEnv,
+		// get compose file path set by COMPOSE_FILE
 		cli.WithConfigFileEnv,
+		// if none was selected, get default compose.yaml file from current dir or parent folder
 		cli.WithDefaultConfigPath,
-		cli.WithEnvFiles(options.EnvFiles...),
-		cli.WithDotEnv,
+		// .. and then, a project directory != PWD maybe has been set so let's load .env file
+		cli.WithEnvFiles(options.EnvFiles...), //nolint:gocritic // intentionally applying cli.WithEnvFiles twice.
+		cli.WithDotEnv,                        //nolint:gocritic // intentionally applying cli.WithDotEnv twice.
+		// eventually COMPOSE_PROFILES should have been set
 		cli.WithDefaultProfiles(options.Profiles...),
 		cli.WithName(options.ProjectName),
 	)
diff --git a/pkg/compose/model.go b/pkg/compose/model.go
index 10af138753..0629013d9b 100644
--- a/pkg/compose/model.go
+++ b/pkg/compose/model.go
@@ -39,16 +39,16 @@ func (s *composeService) ensureModels(ctx context.Context, project *types.Projec
 		return nil
 	}
 
-	api, err := s.newModelAPI(project)
+	mdlAPI, err := s.newModelAPI(project)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	defer api.Close()
-	availableModels, err := api.ListModels(ctx)
+	defer mdlAPI.Close()
+	availableModels, err := mdlAPI.ListModels(ctx)
 
 	eg, ctx := errgroup.WithContext(ctx)
 	eg.Go(func() error {
-		return api.SetModelVariables(ctx, project)
+		return mdlAPI.SetModelVariables(ctx, project)
 	})
 
 	for name, config := range project.Models {
@@ -57,12 +57,12 @@ func (s *composeService) ensureModels(ctx context.Context, project *types.Projec
 		}
 		eg.Go(func() error {
 			if !slices.Contains(availableModels, config.Model) {
-				err = api.PullModel(ctx, config, quietPull, s.events)
+				err = mdlAPI.PullModel(ctx, config, quietPull, s.events)
 				if err != nil {
 					return err
 				}
 			}
-			return api.ConfigureModel(ctx, config, s.events)
+			return mdlAPI.ConfigureModel(ctx, config, s.events)
 		})
 	}
 	return eg.Wait()
diff --git a/pkg/e2e/cancel_test.go b/pkg/e2e/cancel_test.go
index 51c20062f0..3e8e760ae2 100644
--- a/pkg/e2e/cancel_test.go
+++ b/pkg/e2e/cancel_test.go
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 //go:build !windows
-// +build !windows
 
 /*
    Copyright 2020 Docker Compose CLI authors
diff --git a/pkg/e2e/cascade_test.go b/pkg/e2e/cascade_test.go
index e5b2ac141e..5bb23e1db5 100644
--- a/pkg/e2e/cascade_test.go
+++ b/pkg/e2e/cascade_test.go
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 //go:build !windows
-// +build !windows
 
 /*
    Copyright 2022 Docker Compose CLI authors
diff --git a/pkg/e2e/container_name_test.go b/pkg/e2e/container_name_test.go
index 1ddc489a19..99de738c23 100644
--- a/pkg/e2e/container_name_test.go
+++ b/pkg/e2e/container_name_test.go
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 //go:build !windows
-// +build !windows
 
 /*
    Copyright 2022 Docker Compose CLI authors
diff --git a/pkg/e2e/noDeps_test.go b/pkg/e2e/noDeps_test.go
index fad86f2fea..85f3872f7e 100644
--- a/pkg/e2e/noDeps_test.go
+++ b/pkg/e2e/noDeps_test.go
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 //go:build !windows
-// +build !windows
 
 /*
    Copyright 2022 Docker Compose CLI authors
diff --git a/pkg/e2e/up_test.go b/pkg/e2e/up_test.go
index a13ff63da5..d659c97369 100644
--- a/pkg/e2e/up_test.go
+++ b/pkg/e2e/up_test.go
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 //go:build !windows
-// +build !windows
 
 /*
    Copyright 2022 Docker Compose CLI authors
diff --git a/pkg/watch/watcher_darwin.go b/pkg/watch/watcher_darwin.go
index 01c1fb6c90..0e8fdb4e06 100644
--- a/pkg/watch/watcher_darwin.go
+++ b/pkg/watch/watcher_darwin.go
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 //go:build darwin
-// +build darwin
 
 /*
    Copyright 2020 Docker Compose CLI authors
diff --git a/pkg/watch/watcher_naive.go b/pkg/watch/watcher_naive.go
index 555bb5596b..f13a679d86 100644
--- a/pkg/watch/watcher_naive.go
+++ b/pkg/watch/watcher_naive.go
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 //go:build !darwin
-// +build !darwin
 
 /*
    Copyright 2020 Docker Compose CLI authors
diff --git a/pkg/watch/watcher_nonwin.go b/pkg/watch/watcher_nonwin.go
index 3607133188..37222663b0 100644
--- a/pkg/watch/watcher_nonwin.go
+++ b/pkg/watch/watcher_nonwin.go
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 //go:build !windows
-// +build !windows
 
 /*
    Copyright 2020 Docker Compose CLI authors
diff --git a/pkg/watch/watcher_windows.go b/pkg/watch/watcher_windows.go
index 69af1ea5d0..a632967d77 100644
--- a/pkg/watch/watcher_windows.go
+++ b/pkg/watch/watcher_windows.go
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 //go:build windows
-// +build windows
 
 /*
    Copyright 2020 Docker Compose CLI authors